


"Wanna Get Married, Asshole?"

by cupidsintern



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Competition, Domestic Fluff, Everyone Is Alive, Existential Angst, Existential Crisis, Family Reunions, Fluff and Angst, Holidays, Home for Christmas, Jewish Holidays, M/M, Marriage Proposal, New Year's Eve, New Years, Not Canon Compliant, Power Bottom Billy Hargrove, Praise Kink, References to Canon, Riding, Robin's jewish because I said so, Smut, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Steve Harrington-centric, Top Steve Harrington, and it's modern but you probably already read that tag, but a great boyfriend, but it's breif, love that for him, oh also Nancy and Jonathan are married and gonna have a baby, that's why Steve has an existential crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:20:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21855211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cupidsintern/pseuds/cupidsintern
Summary: A challenge is born.Robin gets a phone call about it. Two of them.And the jist of both is: whoever proposes first wins.“Wins what?” She asks.“Doesn't matter. Bragging rights. I don’t care. I just need to win.”What are the rules?There aren't any so far, just that it has to be a surprise.“Why does this sound like guerrilla warfare?” Robin can sense the tension headaches in her future.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 31
Kudos: 330





	"Wanna Get Married, Asshole?"

**Author's Note:**

> Title from THIS AMAZING YOUTUBE VIDEO by Chris Fleming:  
https://youtu.be/H5bfy_RBg1U

“I’m twenty-five, Robin!-”

“Steve-”

“Twenty-fucking-five!”

“Steve, calm down-”

“And what do I have to show for it?”

“You helped save the world MORE THAN ONCE-” Robin tries to yell over him. 

“THAT WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL! I DIDN’T EVEN GO TO COLLEGE!”

“Oh my god.” Robin lets her head fall back against the headrest of the passenger's seat.

“I mean, you’re going to grad school next year! Nancy and Jonathan are  _ expecting _ .” Steve waves the baby shower invitation (“ _ We’re Expecting! _ ”) that sparked this meltdown- in a Target parking lot of all places. “What- what am I supposed to do with that information?”

“Steve, you have a good job, a stable living situation, and a boyfriend. It’s not like you’re  _ behind _ or anything-”

Steve lets his head fall forward onto the steering wheel of his parked car.

“I can’t, I can’t go to this.” He points at the invitation.

“Yes you can, you  _ should _ .”

“I know I should, alright? I know. I wanna, you know, support my friends or whatever, this is great. Good for them. Terrible for me.”

“When is it anyway?”

“It’s soonish, in December, cause we'll all be home for the holidays or whatever.”

“Are you guys going back?”

“I mean sure. Neil and Susan don’t live in Hawkins anymore, so we’re good to go back.”

“How’s things with  _ your _ parents?” Robin asks calculatedly, maybe trading one meltdown for another

“I mean… fine? I dunno. They’re still, weird. I mean we’re not gonna stay with them. I think they still think it’s like a...  _ phase _ , or whatever.”

“You’ve been dating for literal years.”

“Like six, yeah.”

“You guys could stay at my house. My parents love you, you know that.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a very long pause. 

“You’re not like, a failure or anything, you know.” Robin squeezes his shoulder. 

“Yeah…”

“You’re just a bit of a drama queen.”

“Thank you, for that.” He looks up. 

“Yeah, you’re welcome.” She smiles. 

\---

“I feel like a failure” Is Steve’s response to Billy’s  _ ‘you good, babe? _ ’

Billy laughs. 

“Don’t you fucking laugh at me.” Steve sits up on the couch. “I’m having serious emotions.”

“Right, of course.” 

Neither of them has work, it’s a Sunday. California doesn't get near as cold as Indiana in late November, Steve decided he liked it better five years ago, their first winter on the west coast. He’d already mentioned going home for the holidays to Billy earlier that week, Billy’s response every year being ‘going to  _ your _ home for the holidays, you mean,’ and they usually would have rather stayed in Cali for Christmas, but when Max was in high school she always convinced both of them to go back with her to see the party, and they’d been doing it ever since. 

Even now that all the kids were in college and Steve felt  _ old.  _ Like,  _ really old.  _

“I feel old.” He was telling Billy just then when he sat down next to him on the couch. “Like, Max is going to be twenty-one soon.”

“Perfect timing, she just lost the fake I gave her.” Billy doesn’t look up from his phone.

“That’s all you have to say? I’m having a crisis.”

Billy looks up. “You’re not old.”

“I  _ feel _ old!”

“Why?”

“We got invited to Nancy and Jonathan’s baby shower. They got married  _ last year _ and now they’re gonna have a fucking kid! And what have I been doing? Nothing.”

“Steve, you haven't been doing nothing.”

Steve groans, leaning his head against Billy’s shoulder dejectedly. 

“If it helps,” Billy runs a hand through Steve’s hair. “If I could knock you up, I would.”

“That does not help.”

“Fine, then let’s get married.”

“Yeah, ok.” Steve rolls his eyes. 

“I’m serious, I’d marry you. I’ve said that before.”

“Yeah you've said it when one or both of us was shitfaced.”

“But I meant it.”

“Ok, but you can’t just be like, ‘let’s get married’. You have to, you know, propose. Down on one knee and everything.”

“Should be easy. I’ve been down on both knees for you before-”

“Ok, no, you’re terrible at this. I’ll propose.”

“What, you don’t think I can do it?’

“No, I don’t think you can fucking do it-”

\---

A challenge is born. 

Robin gets a phone call about it. Two of them. 

And the gist of both is: whoever proposes first wins. 

“Wins what?” She asks.

“Doesn't matter. Bragging rights. I don’t care. I just need to win.”

What are the rules?

There aren't any so far, just that it has to be a surprise.

“Why does this sound like guerrilla warfare?” Robin can sense the tension headaches in her future.

\---

For the first week, both of them are so on edge that it couldn't possibly be a surprise. It’s basically a standoff.

It’s insanely stressful, but both of them have to admit to themselves, it's also the most fun they’ve had in a while. 

Of course, one rule won’t stand for long, so in the next couple of weeks, more are created. 

Situationally. 

\---

Billy tries to pop the question while Steve’s in the shower, just pulls back the curtain. 

Steve throws an entire bottle of shampoo at his head in retaliation.

It was definitely a surprise, how could it  _ not _ count, then?

“It’s not a  _ real _ proposal!”

“What in the  _ hell _ is a ‘real proposal’?”

You have to have a ring.

They both get rings. 

Steve  _ has a ring  _ while they’re literally  _ in bed _ and uses a gasped “marry me” and Billy’s too distracted to say anything other than yes, and directly after there’s an hour-long disagreement about whether or not it counts - it doesn't. Another rule: not during sex.

“You thought it was hot, I could tell.” Steve’s still trying to win the argument.

“Right, but you said it had to be romantic, not hot.”

“Hot, romantic, whatever.”

\---

After Billy hides in Steve’s hatchback trunk and tries a tasteful “Wanna get married, asshole?”

Steve almost crashes his car. So neither of them can be driving.

“Be romantic!” Steve reiterates.

“What the  _ hell _ is your metric of romantic?!”

\---

Another rule: it can't be anywhere in the apartment, otherwise it’s too stressful. 

And they have to be alone.

Somehow, due to both of their undyingly competitive natures, neither of them can get the other alone anywhere. 

“Would it count if I proposed right now?” Billy muses, one arm over Steve’s shoulder while they wait in the airport terminal for their flight- Max drove to Hawkins so she could road trip with Dustin and Lucas from their respective college campuses. 

“I wanna say no.” Steve starts, threading his fingers through Billy’s. “Not just because I wanna win, but also because no one proposes in an airport.”

“They do in the movies.”

“Also it wouldn't be a surprise, ‘cause now I know.”

“You might  _ want _ to win, I  _ will _ win.”

“I hate you.” Steve tilts his head against Billy’s, smiling. Then, “You think we could get in trouble for being too gay in an airport?”

“Let’s try.” Billy grins. 

“I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no.” Steve tries to push Billy’s arm off his shoulders. 

“It was your idea!”

“I take it back.”

“God, you’re such a tease.” Billy lowers his voice.

“Don’t you call me a fucking tease! You kept making roadhead jokes on the way here and _nothing_ _happened_!”

“I'm building suspense.” 

He was building suspense, too. They were both longtime members of the Mile High Club. 

\---

They get back to Hawkins in mid December, a couple of days before Nancy and Jonathan’s baby shower. 

The transition from the mild cool breezes of California to the biting cold of Indiana was brutal at best. Steve didn’t hate Hawkins the way Billy did, but he didn’t love it either. It was an odd standstill; Hawkins did nothing for him, he did nothing for Hawkins. 

It was kind of like how things were with his parents.

Or parent. His dad didn’t talk to him much anymore. Not like he was  _ not _ talking to him, just that he didn't get a lot beyond ‘Happy Birthday!’ and Steve didn’t give a lot more than ‘Happy Father’s Day’. Just this last year, Steve had panicked when he didn't get a happy birthday text, only to get one the next day. Because his dad just forgot about his birthday. 

Because he did that sometimes. 

“Your mother forgot to remind me.”

Even talking to his Mom was complete shit. He got a reminder of that a couple days before they left for Hawkins; a phone call.

“So do you know when you’re getting into town?” His mom is saying.

“Uh yeah, should be late Monday. Did you want us to stop by?”

“Oh, no, that’s fine. You should settle in at Robin’s first.”

“Ok.”

“Did you hear Jonathan and Nancy are expecting?”

Steve blinks for a bit longer than he usually does. “Yep.”

“Starting a family is always such a nice thing. Really a milestone for your life.”

God, he hoped this wasn't going anywhere. 

But it was.

“Do you ever think maybe you’d want to start on something like that? Something, you know, better?”

“Better than what, Mom.” It’s not really a question, just a line. Just an invitation for bullshit.

“I just mean I think it’s time you started taking your life more seriously. You’re twenty-five, Steve. You should be making serious decisions.”

“I am taking my life seriously.” Steve sighs a little, leaning his forehead against his hand. “I have a serious job, I have a serious boyfriend-”

“See that’s what I’m talking about, sweetheart. Don’t you think it’s time you left things like that behind?”

_ Things like that.  _

Not unlike _‘it’s_ _a_ _phase’_ or ‘_it’s juvenile’_ or you know, the more direct ‘_you’re making a mistake_.’

“I just think it’s  _ wrong _ for you-”

“Mom-” Steve could hear his own tone go harsh. 

“I just want you to be happy-”

“I am happy! So happy. All the time. Except when we have phone calls like  _ this _ .”

“Steve-” She sounds pissed.

“See you on Christmas, Mom.”

He hangs up. 

\---

It hasn't yet snowed when they get into town, but it was freezing just the same. The Buckley’s house was decorated with multicolored lights and the Santa with sunglasses on their porch that had been a gift from Steve and Billy one year. 

“Very Californian! We love it.” Was the consensus.

They didn’t even celebrate Christmas. 

Robin drove them from the airport in Indianapolis.

“Don’t keep the competition going at my parent’s house,” Robin says when they pile into her car. Billy verbally called shotgun, even though they are well beyond shotgun calling years. 

“Why? Your parents love us.” Steve leans through the break in the front seat to play music. 

And Robin’s parents do love them, even Billy, they think he’s ‘charmingly abrasive.’ Billy's admitted that Robin’s parents are the only people he’d ever let force him to participate in a jigsaw puzzle. 

They have a great time at dinner, it’s the last day of  Hanukkah at the Buckley household, Robin gives herself a chocolate stomach ache from gelt and Steve gets a little drunk and after Robin’s parents go to bed Billy gives robin the weed she forgot at their apartment and they all get stoned in Robin’s room. 

“Why do you still have this?” Steve finds Robin’s scoops badge, digging through her junk drawer for more matches because no one had a lighter. They all quit smoking long ago.

“It symbolizes a new era of my life.” She starts giggling. “Makes me happy.”

“God, why?”

“Everythings better now. Doesn't that make you happy?”

\---

Robin falls asleep while they’re watching _South_ _Park_ reruns, so Steve and Billy try to whisper as they talk, walking back down to the guest room.

Steve always gets horny as hell when he gets really baked, and it’s not even the first time they’ve fucked in the Buckley’s guest room, it far enough away from everyone else. 

But this time Billy can tell Steve’s not as into it. He wants to be into it, there’s just that lurking feeling always going around Steve’s head that somehow he’s not good enough, even when he’s got Billy riding him for nearly an hour, moaning his name. 

They don’t have a time limit, they have forever together, that’s the whole point of the proposal competition anyway, so Billy can take as long as he wants, but he wants Steve to feel like he’s won something, wants him to feel royal again. 

“Hey,” Billy grabs Steve’s chin with the hand he’s not jerking himself with. “Look at me.”

Steve looks at him, honey-brown eyes glassy, his breathing heavy. 

“You feel so good inside me, baby.” Billy lets his voice dip. “You know that?”

“Yeah?” 

“Fuck yeah.” A smile tweaks at Billy’s lips as he says it- he’s getting close.

Steve’s desperate for the words of praise that fall from Billy’s lips, Billy can tell, can feel Steve twitch inside him. Steve sits up more, grab’s Billy’s waist, fucks him harder, makes him groan louder. Billy loves it. Loves the confidence he can see flooding back, loves the cocky bastard he knows Steve can be. 

“Love your cock, Stevie. So fucking big-  _ fuck _ .”

Billy can hear Steve smiling in the way he moans against Billy’s chest. 

“Gonna make me come so fucking hard,” Billy’s saying, kinda on autopilot now, it’s all he can think to do. His leg twitches and Steve grabs both his thighs, pins Billy right up against his hips, as he fucks up into him. “So hot, fuck me, god, _fuck_ _me_, _baby-_”

Billy comes way harder than he expected too, getting a little more delirious than he meant to, falling forward against Steve’s chest. He chokes on a gasp at the oversensitivity burning his insides when Steve comes, practically rutting into him. 

Billy loves it when Steve gets like this, right after they’ve fucked. The victorious grin on his face, like maybe he can finally beat Billy at something, and god Billy’s happy to lose.

He’s falling asleep, pushing Steve’s hair around a little, when he sees the sleepy smile falter a little as Steve asks him:

“Do you actually want to get married?”

“Yeah, ‘course I do.”

“Like besides this whole, competition thing. You really want to marry me? Spend the rest of our lives together and all that?”

“Stevie, I can’t think of anyone else on the fucking planet I’d want to do all that with.”

“That’s because you hate people.”

“Or because I love you.”

Steve smiles a little more. 

“I love you, too.”

\---

Nancy’s baby shower is actually kinda fun. Mostly because Steve doesn't feel like such a total failure right now. He woke up to Billy staring at him, grinning, a ‘morning, hot stuff,’ and that made him smile. Then Billy went to hang out with Max for the day, and Steve went to the baby shower. And Nancy’s absolutely thrilled to see him, Jonathan, too. Nancy is so very pregnant. She isn’t supposed to walk or stand too much but she gets up to hug Steve anyway and Jonathan follows her around like a paranoid dachshund. 

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re here! It’s so far!” She says.

“I told you we were coming,” Steve laughs. 

Nancy and Steve talk about baby names for maybe an hour, Robin keeps saying Robin is a perfect name because it’s unisex. Jonathan says they should pick something meaningful.

Of course, Jonathan makes the mood more heartfelt. 

Nancy asks if Steve wants to feel the baby and he says no but Robin says yes and has a great time seeing if she can feel a kick.

Steve feels old. 

\---

Later, Billy realizes he doesn't know where his ring for Steve is, so he takes Steve’s from him and hides it until he finds his again, which Steve says is cheating, and the whole ordeal lasts them until Christmas. 

Billy remembers the first Christmas after they’d started seriously dating, and his Dad moved away from Hawkins. Steve had brought Billy to his parent’s house. 

He’d called them. He’d told them, “I’m bringing Billy. My boyfriend.”

And they’d been so vague and roundabout and never given a direct answer so Steve showed up at their Christmas Eve cocktail party, boyfriend in tow, and Billy never knew exactly what happened, Steve just explained the gist of the fight, but Steve’s dad dragged him up to his office and when Steve came back, he had grabbed Billy’s arm and they’d left. Only minutes after arriving. 

Steve cried. More like he teared up and stared at the snow collecting on the windshield until he evened out his breathing because he hated crying in front of people, no matter how many times Billy said “I don’t care” and “It’s seriously ok” and “I love you.”

“This is so stupid, your parents are so much worse.” Steve had closed his eyes, leaning back in the passenger's seat. 

“Yours still suck.” Billy half laughed. 

Steve smiled a little. “Thanks.”

“Hey,” Billy tried to lighten the mood. “Think how pissed they’d be if they knew how many times we’ve fucked in that house.”

Steve really smiled then, he even laughed. “God, they’d be devastated.”

“Exactly.”

So Steve was twenty years old when he stopped being invited home from Christmas. 

His mom would always ask if they were going to be in town, and then Steve’d get his hopes up, and then she’d call back and say ‘it would be better for everyone if we didn’t.’

\---

Steve’s clearly trying not to cry, doing a good job of it, too, when he gets off the phone with his Mom, walks back inside, but Steve doesn't like crying in front of other people, not even Robin, not even Billy. So Billy doesn't say anything about it, he just says: “What was the call about?”

“My parents don’t want us over for Christmas.”

“That’s pretty fucked.”

“Nah,” Steve sniffs. “This happens every year, I should be used to it.”

Billy hugs him. Steve’s breathing hitches a little, Billy can feel it against his chest, but he doesn't cry. Because he never cries.

\---

That Christmas, they call a truce for the day. There’s so much going on and people to see and gifts to give they let it go for a day. 

Billy (and Steve) give Max airpods - he always gives her something nice, something your parents would give you, not like either of them speak to either of their parents - and she gives him socks and a ring set with a gemstone made to look like the sun. She found it at a second-hand shop and thought of him. 

Max gets Steve a sixth ‘World’s Best Dad’ mug to add to his collection. She started giving them to him as a joke and now it’s all he gets. He loves them. 

Even though Max isn’t staying at the Buckley's house, she comes over for Christmas morning so she can see Billy and he can see her. 

Then she goes back to the Wheeler’s, Steve drops her off so he can make an appearance and give Dustin a comic he said he wanted.

Then Steve and Billy get Chinese food with the Buckleys.

And it’s nice. It’s nice.

It’s not like he’d rather spend Christmas with his parents. 

His stocking was always overflowing on Christmas day as a kid, but he always went through it by himself. And they’d watch him open presents from under the tree, but that was it. They’d just watch. 

Billy reaches over to squeeze Steve’s hand under the table at the Chinese restaurant they’re in. He does it instinctively, Steve thinks because he’s not even looking Steve’s way. Instead, he’s laughing at something Mr. Buckley said, endlessly charming, so good at small talk for such an unpleasant person. Steve loves him. 

\---

Steve almost wins outside the restaurant before the drive home but as soon as he gets down on one knee Billy yells “I fucking knew it! Not a surprise! Eat shit.”

“God, you’re so romantic.” Steve pushes his head. 

“Doesn't matter, I’m gonna win.” He’s grinning in the light of the streetlamps. 

\---

They lay low for a few days. They’re both getting sick of being back, but they have a flight to California for them and Robin booked for New Year’s Day. So nothing much happens, besides one more failed proposal on Billy’s behalf, until the New Year’s Eve party hosted by the Sinclairs. They’re probably the best hosts out of anyone in Hawkins, including Steve’s parents. All the adults are being normal and nice in the dining room. All the kids- who are now also adults- get more sloshed then they're supposed to be and Mike attempts to drunkenly Dungeon Master a pickup game of D&D in the living room. El and Will are the only coherent ones since they don’t drink, so they're the only ones really playing. Erica comes in to make fun of them. She’s so tall now. It makes Steve feel old. 

Billy and Robin are arguing about something intellectual, and Steve’s just sitting on the couch watching when Robin says they should hang out outside and Dustin boos because once again the big kids are excluding them.

“You’re in college!” Robin yells over her shoulder as she practically drags Steve outside, still mid-argument with Billy. 

“You’re in grad school!” Dustin yells back, throwing a d4 at her which she easily dodges by closing the door. 

“Robin, listen to me,” Billy starts up again. He’s wearing the dark red suit jacket Steve bought him for last year. Steve might just be kinda buzzed, but he’s staring at Billy the same way he used to when they were kids. It makes him so happy, looking at Billy, even while he’s mid-rant with Robin, who might be winning-

“There’s no way in hell-” Billy’s saying.

“Billy, you can’t disagree with me on this. You’re also gay!”

“I’m aware!-”

Steve doesn't even notice Robin announcing she’s going to get more wine until he turns around and she’s gone. 

“So who’s winning this time-” Steve starts, turning back. But he doesn't get to finish his thought. 

Billy’s down on one knee in the snow of the Sinclair’s backyard, and it’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s snowing again, and he has the cockiest grin on his face when he says:

“Marry me?”

And Steve says:

“You son of a bitch.” 

“Hey, no. I fucking won-”

“You got Robin to help you, didn’t you? That  _ has _ to be cheating!”

“Just answer the fucking question, Steve!”

“Also, it’s a holiday!”

“You said not on Christmas it’s not Christmas-”

“I said no holidays!”

“This counts-”

“Like hell it does-”

Of course, this is how it would happen. 

Robin gets back from going to refill her wine glass and when she sticks her head outside, Steve’s wearing the ring and they’re fully making out in the snow, so she figures it worked out. 

\---

Nancy is  _ thrilled.  _ She says she and Jonathan can have them over for dinner and they really would but they’re leaving back to California so it has to be later. And anyone that finds out is excited, almost like they were with Jonathan and Nancy- the whole ‘I knew you kids would make it’ and ‘well it’s about damn time,’ which was encouraging. Encouraging enough for Steve to make a bold decision.

\---

Steve tells his parents  _ in person  _ that he and Billy are engaged on the first of January. He says he’s doing it with or without them there.

He shows up at their house-  _ his  _ house- at 8am and he’s a little hungover but that never stopped him before, so why should it now?

Robin and Billy drive him over, they wait in the car, per Steve’s request, and Steve knocks on his own door. 

His mom answers.

“Steve!” She smiles quickly, making out like she’s happy to see him. She makes no move to hug him or let him in.

“Hey, Mom,” Steve hands her the bottle of wine he brought. “Happy New Year.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you shouldn't have,” She takes it, still not moving. 

There’s a short pause. 

“Yeah, ok.” Steve pushes past her. She starts a little. 

“Steve-”

“Is Dad here?”

“He’s in his office, but-”

“Great.” Steve takes the stairs of his childhood home up two at a time, and he thinks for a fleeting moment of telling his parents how many times he and Billy fucked in this house when Steve’s parents weren’t around to give a shit about him but he doesn't, because he wants to seem sane. And right. He wants them to think he’s right. 

“ _ Steve- _ ” His mom tries again, warning tone now, but Steve’s already pushing open the door to his dad’s office.

“Steve, what are you-” Is the first thing his dad says, and he doesn't look happy exactly, but Steve smiles. His mom runs in behind him, and it seems like she might speak again, but Steve starts talking before anyone else can. 

He turns to face his dad, sat in his desk, his mom just behind, and feels a little like he’s on stage. 

“Great. You’re both here.” Steve says to his parents. His parents that don’t talk to him. Or rather, his parents that talk to him just enough to say they’re not  _ not _ talking to him.

He takes a second to breathe, evens his voice before he says, “I’m engaged. To Billy. As of yesterday.”

Both of them are silent. 

“Just thought I should let you know.” He keeps going, waiting a little.

His mom won’t exactly look at him, but his dad’s practically staring him down. “It’s a bit soon-” 

“You know what? It’s not. It’s not soon. We’ve actually been dating for about six years, but it might seem soon to you because you weren't there for any of it.”

There’s another age of a pause. 

“I’ll send you guys invitations when we pick a date. Obviously, you don’t have to come. But you know.”

They both look back at him, still silent. 

Steve nods a couple of times. “Anyway, Happy New Year.”

Steve walks back out of the office. He casts a glance in his old bedroom as he walks past it- they turned it into a guest room. But his trophy shelf is still there. 

He’s almost at the stairs when he hears his name. 

“Steve.”

He stops. He looks back. 

His dad is standing in the doorway of his office. 

He’s so old now. It makes Steve feel older. 

Not old, just older. 

“It’s good to see you, champ,” is all he says. 

“Thanks, Dad,” Steve says back. Then, “Enjoy the wine.”

Then he runs back down the stairs, because he always ran down those stairs, and back out the door. Billy and Robin are still waiting in the car. 

“How’d it go?” Robin asks him when he gets back in the backseat. 

“Good. I think. I dunno.”

“You’re smiling,” Billy tells him. 

“I am?” Steve feels a little electric.

“You wanna go scream into the abyss at the quarry?” Robin asks him.

“Oh god, it’s still there isn’t it?”

“Very much so.” 

“Sure, why not?” Steve knows he’s smiling now.

They go to the quarry but they don’t do much screaming. They just hang out and Robin finds a pack of cards in her glove box so they play cards and listen to music and think about how much life used to suck when any one of them used to come here. And how much better it was now. 

\---

Steve and Billy get married in the summer. In June. Robin keeps chanting ‘gay month! gay month!’ and she asks Steve if she can wear a suit since she’s his best man and he gets so excited. For both of them.

Nancy and Jonathan bring their baby- it’s a boy, and they don’t name him Robin. Dustin falls in the fountain at the reception and Lucas tries to help him up but falls in too. Max has the whole thing on video. 

Steve’s parents come, and they leave early, but that’s ok, Steve says when the entire wedding party keeps asking him if he’s ok, and he’s ok. He’s happy, really. 

He’s just happy. 

Billy bets him one hundred dollars he can drink an entire bottle of champagne faster and Steve yells “We literally have shared assets now!” and Billy laughs drunkenly and just says ‘ha,  _ ass _ ets’ and Steve kisses him for the millionth time that evening. Because’s they’re in love, or because they're married now. And because he’s happy. 

  
  



End file.
